Love Soon
by TowMondler
Summary: What if Monica and Chandler met again in London for the first time since that faithful Thanksgiving?
1. So come on and face it

~* Okay, I got to thinking (terrifying, isn't it?) and I was thinking, what happened if Monica and Chandler weren't friends and met in London? So I decided to write a story like that. I hope that you enjoy. Please leave a review! Thanks~*

Disclaimer: Oh, you thought I was serious when I said that they were mine? 

Monica laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. It would be a long flight to London with her friend Joey next to her. He was so excited and kept repeating the phrase "London baby!" over and over again until she had flagged the flight attendant down for the pair of headphones she had originally refused. She had slipped them over her ears grateful for the silence that they allowed and submerged her in. Joey had eventually started to read, or at least skim the pictures, of his magazine leaving her in peace. Their other friends Rachel and Phoebe couldn't, or in Rachel's case, wouldn't go to the wedding, and her brother had flown out before to finalize plans for his nuptials with his fiance Emily. So it was just her and Joey. She felt a tap on her shoulder and thought it was Joey again with some inane question, when she saw that Joey had moved to another seat to flirt with some girl and a man, vaguely familiar, was standing there smiling at her. She slipped the headphones off her head and looked up at him.

"Can I sit here?" He asked looking at Joey's empty seat. "He wanted to switch, so I just..."  
"Oh, no go ahead," she told him smiling. "At least he's occupied." She glanced over at Joey and breathed a sigh of relief. The guy was cute. Maybe the flight to London wouldn't be that bad after all. He gave her a small. No, Monica decided to herself, not too bad at all. 

Chandler found his seat next to some bubbly blonde. She glanced up at him and grinned. 

"Are you my seatmate? Oh, good," she said and he inwardly cringed. Blonde and bubbly wasn't his type. Wait, what was he talking about? He had no type. He would take any girl at this point. But this girl, she was a lot to take. 

"Oh good," he finally repeated. 

"Why are you going to London?" She asked. "I'm going for an interview." 

"Oh, uh, my friend from college is getting married," he said.

"In London? How romantic," she sighed. 

"Yeah, romantic," he repeated again. He glanced around the plane. He noticed a beautiful dark haired woman seated across from them. She looked a little like someone he remembered, but couldn't place where. It didn't matter, she was with someone. He looked back over and saw her laughing at something the man in the seat had said. He figured himself in for a boring flight. A little while later the man sitting across with the pretty girlfriend tapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey buddy," he said. "Do you mind switching for awhile?" Chandler looked at his seatmate, Candi (AN: No offense to any Candi's out there). Who named their daughters that anyway? 

"Candi, with an i," she had told him. 

"Oh no, I don't mind," Chandler said. No, he didn't mind at all. He got up and tapped the woman on the shoulder. He felt bad because her eyes were closed and she had headphones on. She looked up at him. 

"Can I sit here?" He asked. She blinked at him. "He wanted to switch, so I just..." Chandler trailed off feeling incredibly stupid at that point. 

"Oh, no go ahead," she told him smiling. What a great smile, Chandler thought to himself. "At least he's occupied." Chandler took his seat. 

"Is he your boyfriend?" Chandler asked. Be a brother, be a friend, Chandler begged silently. 

"Joey?" She asked surprised. "No, he's just a friend." Chandler wanted to do a dance right there in the seat. 

"What brings you to merry ol' London?" Chandler asked her. 

"My brother's getting married," she told him. 

"Really? My friend from college is getting married, that's why I'm going." 

"Wow, what a small world." She stretched out her legs. Great legs, Chandler thought. Stop that, he admonished himself. 

"I should let you get back to the movie," Chandler said pointing to the screen. 

"I just put the headphones on to escape Joey," she explained which caused him to laugh and she to join in. They began to talk. It turned out that he only lived a few blocks away from her and had been to her restaurant to eat many times. 

"Good food," he complemented. 

"Thanks," she said smiling. "What do you do?"

"Data processor," he said. "Yeah, really is that boring." 

"I have no idea what that is," she admitted. 

"Join the club," he told her and she laughed. He loved her laugh. The way that she threw back her head when she really thought something was funny. Chandler looked up and saw to his dismay the Joey she came with coming back over.

"Listen," he said. "Where are you staying?" She hurried and wrote the hotel and room number down and handed him the slip of paper. 

"Call me," she said. He nodded and held the paper firm in his hand. He got up and reluctantly went back to Candi with the i. 

Joey plopped down next to her. 

"I got a number," he told her victoriously waving a paper in front of her. 

"That's great Joey," she said. 

"Yeah," he agreed. "I love London." 

"So do I," she decided. She looked over at Chandler who gave her a small smile. "I think I might really come to love it." 

When they got to the hotel Monica and Joey checked in and got their room keys and headed to their rooms. They were connected in the middle by a door that Monica was sure that she would most likely keep open unless Chandler happened to.... No, she shook her head. She did not come to London to find herself in another relationship that ultimately wouldn't work. She came to see her brother get married. That was all. She repeated it to herself again before the phone rang and she reached to get it thinking it was either Phoebe or Rachel, or maybe Ross. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Monica?" Chandler asked into the phone. She closed her eyes and grinned. 

"Yes it is," she responded. Keep it cool, she reminded herself. Keep it cool. 

"Oh good," he said. "It's Chandler. From the plane?" 

"Oh, hi," She paused waiting for him to make the next move.

"So l was thinking that we could get together tonight for a drink? Say about eight?" She glanced at the clock. It was five-thirty. Plenty of time to meet up with Ross and Emily and her parents, say hello and dash out to meet him. 

"That sounds great," she told him. "Eight it is." 

"I'll meet you in the lobby?"

"Great." 

"Great," he repeated. "I'll see you then." They hung up their individual phones and this time Chandler allowed himself the dance. Monica squealed as she fell back onto the bed. Joey poked his head through the door. 

"You ready? We have to go meet Ross and Emily," he reminded her. She jumped up from the bed. 

"Yeah, hold on a minute," she said and glanced back at the door between rooms. Maybe it would stay closed. 

Monica glanced nervously at the watch. It was seven-thirty. She was going to make her break soon and hurry up to the hotel room to change and meet him. 

"Listen," she said to her brother. "I'm kind of jet-lagged. I'm going to head up to the room." He nodded.

"Okay," he said and gave Monica a hug and then Emily gave her a hug and she waved to her parents and Joey as she practically skipped away and ran to the elevator. She punched the button and leaned her head back against the elevator wall and sighed. He was perfect. He was cute and funny and....perfect. She let the doors open and got to her room and opened the door and then rushed around like a madman trying to get ready. She threw on her clothes and then redid her makeup and at the last minute threw up her short hair into a twist and sprayed it and then shrieked when she saw that she had two minutes and grabbed her purse and hurried out of her room. 

Chandler had been ten minutes early. He was waiting impatiently for her to arrive. He must have glanced at his watch a thousand times since arriving. At exactly eight, the elevator doors slid open and she was standing there. Looking beautiful. She had her hair pulled up now, and an elegant strand of pearls adorned her neck. 

"Hi," she said. "I was afraid I was going to be late. I had to have dinner with my brother and my parents and they talked and I...anyway, hi." He grinned at her. 

"Hi," he said back. He handed her a rose. "This is for you." Her heart skipped a beat. 

"Thanks," she said and he held out his arm for her and she slipped her hand in the crook of his arm and then left the hotel together. 

A few hours, and many, many drinks later Chandler walked her up to her hotel room. They were giggling about something and when they got closer to her door, she shushed him.

"Joey will hear," she said and then she leaned her head against the door. "Would you like to come in?"

"I would love to," he said and she smiled and got out her key and opened the hotel room door. They fell inside kissing and she made sure that they door between the rooms was closed before allowing him to pull her onto the bed. 

The next morning, Monica woke up with an extreme headache and Chandler's arms around her. She looked over at him and tried to smile, but the hangover only allowed her to hurry to the bathroom to throw up the remains of the alcohol. The sound of her in the bathroom and the absence of her in the bed woke up Chandler. He sat up and groaned and rubbed his temples. She stumbled out of the bathroom and fell into bed with a thump. 

"I feel like I've been run over by a bus and then it stopped and backed up and hit me again," she moaned as she turned to him for sympathy. He kissed her temples. 

"I should go and try to make myself feel better before my friend's rehearsal dinner." He rolled out of the bed and grabbed his coat and gave her a kiss and disappeared out of the door. 

"Sure, you just didn't want to hear me puke again," Monica said to the closed door and then got up to make herself some coffee. 

After a few hours, coffee, a shower, and a nap, Chandler was as good as new. Well, almost as good as new. He fixed the tie on his suit and allowed his mind to wander to Monica. She was great. She was everything that he had dreamt about. She was so familiar, like he had met her before. He grabbed his jacket and locked the door behind him and pressed the button for the elevator. Inside was Monica's friend. 

"Hey," Joey said. "Remember me? We switched seats on the plane?"

"Ah, yes," Chandler said nodding and smiling. He should thank this man for switching seats with him. If not he might not have met Monica. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he said nodding. He glanced at his watch. "Girls, they're so much trouble. Like my friend Monica? We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago and she still wasn't ready. I told her finally that I'd meet her down in the lobby." Chandler shared a smile with the man. 

"I hear you," he said and heard the elevator ding and the doors slide open. 

"I guess I have to stay here and wait for her," Joey said and he held out his hand to Chandler. "Nice to meet you." 

"You too," Chandler said. But not as much as I enjoyed meeting your friend, he said silently in his head and he walked away towards the door. Joey waited by the elevator for a few more minutes before Monica finally showed up and was ready to go. 

"Sorry it took so long," she told him giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Ready to go?" Joey nodded. And he held out his arm to her and they left for the restaurant where the dinner was. Monica sighed and closed her eyes before entering. She really had no urge to deal with her mother at that very moment. She didn't want to hear the, "When are you going to get married?" or the "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" or "You know, I do want grandchildren from you too." She was still glowing from the incredible night she had spent with Chandler. She was worried where it was going though. What if they got back to New York and he never called? What if it was just the romantic foreign city that had peaked his interests and not her? This was why she wasn't going to let herself do this. Why hadn't she stuck to her guns? Why had she had she agreed to their date last night? Because it had been amazing, that's why, she reminded herself. He was amazing. Joey looked at her. 

"Are you ready?" He asked with genuine concern. He knew how her mother could be. She shrugged.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she told him forcing a smile on her face. Joey opened the door for her and the two of them walked in arm and arm. When she saw her brother, her smile became real as she hugged him.

"Oh Monica," Ross said pulling on her arm. "There's someone I want you to meet. My old college roommate? The one that came to stay with us that one Thanksgiving?" (AN: I'm only making it one that he stayed with the Gellers)

"Yes, um..." Monica searched her memory for his name. Ross tapped a man on the shoulder.

"Chandler," Ross said. Chandler? The panic alarms began to go off in Monica's head. No, there could two Chandlers. Both in for their friend from college's wedding. Oh, who was she kidding? Chandler turned around. "My sister's here. Chandler, this is Monica, my baby sister. Mon, this is Chandler, my old roommate." Chandler's mouth dropped open in shock. That's why it had seemed like he had met her before. He _had _met her before. He recovered quickly and took Monica's hand in his. 

"Hi Monica," he said. 

"Hi Chandler," she replied. 

"So you two remember each other?" Ross asked happily. Monica squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't happening. 

"Not exactly," Chandler answered. "It's coming back to me now." Someone called Ross's name and he left the two alone as he hurried off.

"Your friend's wedding," Monica said. "I should have pieced it together." 

"Well, neither did I...although, you did change." He finally smiled. "What a small world." She nodded speechless. She didn't know what to do know. She thought that she had found the perfect guy finally only to realize that he was someone that she had already known and disliked intensely. The Thanksgiving that he had come with Ross had not been a good one to say the least and she had not forgotten. She had tried to forget, but it hadn't worked. But this Chandler, the one on the plane, the one that...oh God, she had spent the night with last night, he was wonderful and witty and as far removed from the college kid that Ross had brought into her life. Maybe that's why she hadn't put it together. They couldn't possibly be the same person, the same Chandler. And yet, here they were, and here he was. The one who had called her fat. The one who had told her in no uncertain terms that he was disgusted by the look of her and that he would never in his lifetime think that she was beautiful. Hadn't he called her beautiful last night? Hadn't he told her that she was the most gorgeous person he had ever met? 

"I should go find my parents," she muttered looking for an excuse to leave. Chandler grabbed her am and pulled her back into the shadows. 

"We need to talk," he told her fiercely. Before she could respond, he kissed her hard on the lips. 

"What? Did you....are you?" She sputtered out pieces of questions that were running through her brain that that very second.

"The person I was eight years ago is not the person that I am now," he said, his eyes begging hers for forgiveness. "I was rude and rotten and you didn't deserve it and I'm sorry. Monica, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me? Can I be the person you met on the plane and not the person that you met eight years ago?" She was quiet and didn't say anything. Then she looked him in the eyes. They were filled with tears, tears he knew were a result of a flood of memories. How horrible he had been to her. The horrible things he had done and said. 

"I don't know," she said quietly and Joey came in and found her. 

"Ross is looking for you," he told her. She gave a slight nod.

"Tell him I'll be right there," she said and Joey looked from her to Chandler and then nodded and left. She finally looked again at Chandler and closed her eyes. "My parents hate you."

"For that?"

"And other reasons," she said and he could tell that she wasn't going to elaborate on the details. "So I mean how could I....even if I could....they would...my brother would....."

"You think too much," Chandler admonished and kissed her again. "What do you think?"

"I think London is getting to me," she said as she threw her arms around him. The door opened and they heard a gasp and Monica jumped back from Chandler. There were still many things he needed to know. Monica turned to the person in the doorframe ready for damage control. 

~*Whose at the door? Hmm? Review and I'll tell you. At least...7 reviews before I post the next part. I mean it people. Pretty pretty please? *~


	2. I've been warned to live day by day

~*Thanks for the reviews. Here is the next part. Please review again. It makes my day : ) *~

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. I could double-check, but I'm pretty sure that they don't belong to me 

Monica whipped her head around and saw a woman whom she had never met standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I was looking for the bathroom." Monica sighed a sigh of relief and began giggling. 

"What?" Chandler watched her anxiously as she began to laugh hysterically. 

"I thought it was Ross...or Joey or my parents, and that would have been bad," she explained. "I guess the laughing is the relief of it all. I really couldn't handle my mother chastising me for kissing the pot-smoking, self-esteeming destroying, boy-who-hates-Thanksgiving." Chandler couldn't really see the humor in it, but gave her a smile. Then he replayed her words in his head.

"Whoa, wait, I get the self-esteem and Thanksgiving thing, but I don't smoke pot! I never have," he said defensively.

"Oh, well, Ross told my parents that it was you that was smoking and not him, and so on top of all the things that you did to me, well more important than the things that you did to me was that you made their precious son do something bad," she emphasized the word precious to signify that her relationship with her mother was not all that she wanted it to be. 

"Oh great," he moaned to himself. 

"We should stay apart tonight. Maybe for the rest of the trip, we can go on a date when we get back to New York. What do you think?" Her eyes begged him to agree and understand. 

"That's sounds perfect," he informed he. 

"Thank you," she said sincerely and kissed him again. "We better get back out there." He nodded, but he really wasn't planning on moving just yet. "I'm serious, we have to go out there or else Ross or Joey will come looking for me again." He finally groaned and let go of her and she kissed his cheek and slipped out into the crowded room. Joey ambushed her as soon as he saw her. 

"Listen," he said pulling her to the side. "We have a crisis." She looked at him in surprise. She hadn't even known that he knew what a crisis was. Joey was not known to be the sharpest crayon in the box. 

"What's the matter Joey?" Monica asked.

"It's Rachel," he whispered glancing to the woman next to them helping herself to a drink. "Phoebe called and said that she got on a plane to come here to tell Ross exactly how she feels." Monica sighed and slapped her hand to her forehead. 

"We can't let her," she insisted. 

"I know that!" Joey raised his voice startling the older woman.

"Lover's quarrel," he covered and pulled Monica away. 

"So what do we do?" Monica asked. 

"That's your job! You're the brains of this operation, I'm just the pretty face," Joey told her and Monica shook her head. 

"Listen," Monica said. "She'll have to get a room, or more than likely stay in my room. I'll take care of it."

"Okay," Joey said relieved that the weight of this was off his shoulders. 

"I'll stay for the toast and then fake sick and head up to my room and wait for her." Monica and Joey went and found their seats and waited for the appropriate time for the toasts. Joey went first because he was the best man. 

"A toast to bread, for without bread there can be no toast!" He began and Monica closed her eyes. It would be a long toast. After he was finished she made her way over to Ross and Emily. 

"I'm still not feeling well, maybe it was more than just jetlag," she lied. "I'm going to sleep it off so that I can feel better for the wedding tomorrow."

"Oh, Monica, do feel better," Emily said and gave her soon-to-be sister-in-law a hug. 

"Mon, get some rest," Ross said giving her a kiss on the forehead. "You do look pale." Monica offered him a small smile and slipped out of the restaurant. Chandler saw her leave and went to find Ross for an explanation. 

"Where'd your sister go?"

"She didn't feel very good," Ross explained. "She went back to her room." Chandler nodded and glanced worriedly at the door. He wondered if it had anything to do with him. He was way off target with that one. 

Monica stepped out of the elevator and sure enough saw her friend waiting by her door.

"Monica!" Rachel cried and ran to her best friend. 

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Monica asked and let her friend fall into her arms. 

"I have to tell him what I feel for him," Rachel said. Monica sighed and let go to open the door. 

"Are you sure that you want to do that?" She asked.

"Positive," Rachel said. "I think he needs to know all the facts in order to make a good decision." 

"But Rachel," Monica said gently sitting her best friend on the bed. "You had your chance with him honey. That train already left the station, you leaped off." Rachel began to cry and Monica hugged her again.

"So you don't think that I should go tell him?" Monica shook her head. "Or go to the wedding?" Monica shook her head again. "You think I should go home?" Monica nodded. "Oh you're right. I should have never come here. It was stupid. I was stupid." 

"No honey, you were just looking for love in all the wrong places. You panicked when you realized he would be married when he got home. It's okay. I understand."

"I never should have introduced them!" Rachel wailed falling back onto the bed. This time Monica giggled and fell next to her. 

"No, that probably wasn't the brightest thing in the world to do," she agreed and hugged her friend again. 

Chandler found the light to Monica's room on that night and he heard giggling from inside. What was she doing? Was she with another man? He knew that it was too good to be true. He raised his hand to knock on the door and then stopped. 

"I guess I should go home," he heard a woman say. 

"Rachel," he heard Monica. "You're more than welcome to stay here until after the wedding, but you can't come to the wedding."

"I know, I know. Maybe I will stay. We can go sight-seeing." 

"That would be fun, I should go tell Joey that you're here and that you're not going to cause any damage at the wedding," he heard her approach the door and before he could hide she had stepped out into the hallway. 

"Hi," he said sheepishly. 

"Chandler? What are you doing here?"

"Ross said that you were sick, I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine, um, my friend Rachel ended up coming and we had to stop her...and it's a long story...and I'm...."

"So you're fine?"

"Perfect," she told him and then kissed him. 

"Monica?" 

"Hmm?"

"Goodnight," he said. She smiled back at him.

"Goodnight Chandler," she replied. "I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding." 

"Okay," he told her, but he didn't move. 

" I need to find Joey, you need to go to bed," she gave him a kiss again that made his knees feel weak and then skipped to Joey's door and waved goodbye. He sighed to himself. What was she doing to him? He was the commitment-phobic that dated no one for more than two weeks, now he had met her two days before and was now fearing that he would have to admit to those three most terrifying words in the English language? She was right, London was getting to him. He punched the button on the elevator and stepped inside. Life was crazy, he decided. 

__

Chandler kept glancing at her throughout the wedding. She was beautiful. How did he end up with her? It didn't seem quite right to him, but he wasn't complaining. Pay attention to the wedding, he told himself. 

"Repeat after me, I Ross," the priest said.

"I Ross," Ross said smiling at Emily.

"Take thee Emily."

"Take thee Emily." The priest and Ross continued their game back and forth until it was Emily's turn. She looked at Ross and then at the guests. 

"I can't." Everyone gasped, including Monica whose bouquet of roses fell to her sides with her arms. "I'm sorry, Ross. I can't do this. I can't get married." She gave Ross a kiss on the cheek and whispered something into his ear that no one else could hear and then gathered her dress in her hands and ran out of the chapel. Ross put his head in his hands and sank down to the ground. Joey and Monica rushed over to him and kneeled next to him.

"Ross? Honey? Are you okay?" Monica asked sincerely. 

"I think that I want to be alone," he replied and got to his feet and exited through a side door and disappeared. 

"Well, we didn't have to worry about Rachel after all," Joey remarked and Monica sighed and gave him a look. Chandler hurried over to Monica. 

"Where'd Ross go?"

"He said that he needed to be alone," she said. She saw her parents hurrying towards the three of them and grabbed both Chandler and Joey. "Get me out of here please." Both men nodded and Chandler pulled her through the crowd with Joey right at her heels. 

"Now what?" Chandler asked once they were outside. 

"Now we go get incredibly drunk," Monica replied. 

"All right," Joey said smiling. "That's what I'm talking about." Monica giggled and the three of them went to find a bar still in their tuxes and bridesmaid dress. Monica led the way inside and hopped onto a stool, being careful of her dress. 

"What is it?" The bartender asked. "Early Halloween?"

"Why do you say that?" Monica asked. 

"Because we have a bride over there," he pointed to a dark-haired woman hunched over on a stool wearing, sure enough, a wedding gown. "This isn't the type of place to be wearing those outfits normally." He looked over at Chandler and Joey in their tuxes. 

"Not Halloween," Chandler said. "Just a wedding from Hell." 

"Emily," Monica said under her breath. She told the boys that she would be right back and made her way over and hopped onto the stool next to the weeping bride. Emily sniffled and looked up.

"Monica! Did they send you to find me?"

"No," Monica answered. "We came here to get drunk."

"Is Ross with you?" Emily asked stiffening. 

"No, he wanted to be alone."

"I'm sorry, Monica....I just couldn't go through with it. I just thought of my future and I couldn't see us staying together. I couldn't see us being happy. I panicked." She panicked, Monica thought. This just confirmed her theory that her and Chandler should take it slowly. 

"Did you ever think of I don't know, telling him this before your wedding day?" Monica couldn't help the sarcasm that crept into her voice. 

"I know," was all Emily said and then called to the bartender for another drink to drown her sorrows. Chandler watched as Monica sighed and made her way back to where he and Joey were sitting. Joey was hysterical, as it turned out, but Chandler's favorite topic at that point was Monica. What was her favorite restaurant? Where did she like to shop? Pet peeves? And he was trying to do this subtly so that Joey wouldn't catch on. He actually didn't really have to worry that much, because it seemed to him Joey rarely ever caught on to anything. But he seemed like a nice guy and a good friend. Chandler didn't have many of those, but was happy that Monica did. Monica. She sat back down.

"She's sorry," Monica reported and sighed and dropped her head into her hands. "And I want to get incredibly drunk." She held up her hand for a drink and smiled at Chandler before she downed it. He laughed and then joined her. 

"Get her back to her room," Chandler instructed Joey. While Monica had continued to down the Manhattans that she was ordering, Joey and Chandler had taken it slowly. Or at least, more so than her. It was also very apparent that Monica could not hold her liquor in any sort of way. She was smashed. 

"I will," Joey said shifting Monica so that she was completely leaning on him. "I'll take care of her." Joey felt odd saying this. After all, Monica was his friend not this Chandler's. But the way that he was looking at her was definitely friendly. Actually more than friendly. Joey would have to keep an eye on him. Monica had been hurt enough to last a lifetime, Joey would protect her and make sure that this guy wouldn't hurt her like her past boyfriends had. But something in his eyes made Joey think that he would never hurt Monica, at least not on purpose. 

"Goodnight," Chandler said to Joey. "Night Monica." She lifted her head in response and then giggled.

"Come on," Joey said and pulled her towards the elevator and pressed the up button. They got in the elevator and Chandler watched until the doors were shut before heading off towards his room in the other side of the hotel. Joey finally had enough and very easily lifted Monica into his arms and down the hall to her room. He found her key and opened the door and gasped when he saw who was in there. 

"Rachel?" He looked at the woman in the bed. She pulled the covers tightly around herself. 

"What's the wrong with Monica?" She asked concernedly about her friend in Joey's arms. 

"She's drunk, the bigger question is what's wrong with you?" He asked looking from Rachel and then to the person that the next question was posed to. "Ross! What are you doing?" Ross shrugged sheepishly. 

"It's not his fault," Rachel was quick to defend. "He was looking for Monica and I was here and...."

"I was depressed and lonely and...."

"She left him...."

"I didn't think...."

"It's really no....."

"I was lonely...."

"We're sorry," they finished together. Joey shook his head. 

"Well," he said. "Get out of Monica's bed, she needs to sleep." Rachel and Ross both nodded and scrambled out of the bed and gathered their clothes as Joey went to lay Monica down. "On second thought, she probably won't want to sleep here until the sheets are cleaned. She can have my room." He walked through the door into the adjoining room and laid his friend down and closed the door to the other room leaving Ross and Rachel half-naked and guilty. 

*~I'm not done yet. There will be more, but you must review. Haha! Review please!*~


	3. You can cross the line whenever you want...

*~Hi, sorry that this took so long to get up. I've had the world's busiest week ever. I had senior pictures taken and then we had to go to both grandparents' houses and my aunts' and uncles' to have them choose which ones that they liked and wanted to order. Then I went to the John Mayer concert, and oh, that's who the song is by. Part of it is in this chapter and part will be in the next chapter. But that was such a good concert and worth the drive to get there. And then we had two family parties and I went to Rhode Island to look at Brown's campus with my best friend. Anyway, you probably don't care at all, I just thought that I would explain myself. Okay, here is the next part. Please review.*~

Disclaimer: Friends is a show on NBC that has nothing to do with me except I like to use the characters in my stories. 

__

Monica woke up the next morning and was shocked that she was in Joey's bed. Oh God, she thought, what did I do last night? Or more like, who did I do last night? She sat up and ignored her pounding head and looked at the be next to her and found, to her relief, Joey fully dressed sleeping under the covers. She gave a sigh of relief and swung her legs over the side. She gently shook Joey awake. 

"Joey?" 

"One more hour Ma, I'll just miss Spanish, no big," he mumbled and she smiled and got real close to his ear.

"JOEY!" She screamed. He jumped up in the air and looked at her sleepily.

"Oh, hey Monica," he said rubbing his eyes. 

"Joe? What am I doing in your room?"

"Well, you were pretty out of it last night and your bed had occupants already," he explained. "So I put you in here."

"My bed had occupants? Explain further, dear," she demanded sitting on the bed across from him. 

"Ah," he squirmed under her glare. "Ross sort of comforted himself by...well...he sort of.....he....and Rachel....they did it Monica! They totally did it!" 

"Did it?" She repeated. "As in _did it _did it?" He nodded.

"I figured you wouldn't want to sleep in that bed after....that, so I put you in here." She gave a disgusted look to the door. 

"Thanks Joey," she said and got up and knocked on the dividing door and Rachel got up and opened it for her.

"Listen Mon, what Joey told you...I was drunk....Ross was drunk....we were lonely, and...." she trailed off.

"And?" Monica prompted. 

"And that was it. We were lonely and drunk. It seemed like a good idea at that time," she defended. 

"Oh, great," Monica said. "And where is that bed-hopping brother of mine?"

"He went to his room," Rachel shrugged. 

"I'm getting in the shower." Monica grabbed a change of clothes and chose to discuss this later with Rachel. She let the water run over her body as she thought about Chandler. Chandler. The name tossed inside her head. Her parents hated him. That was the first problem. She used to hate him. There lies problem number two. Ross would kill him for hurting his little sister and then dating her. Problem three. Her friends were overprotective of her, and she had sworn after her last abusive boyfriend that she would be careful and take some time to work on herself. Fourth problem. She was looking for someone older than her who would be stable and good for her. Well, he was two years older, but still she needed someone who was stable and constant. He didn't really seem to be. Problem number six. Oh, but the way that he looked at her. The way that he had held her, and the way that he had taken care of her. She sighed and leaned her head against the shower wall letting the water cascade over her. She had no idea what to do about him. Maybe this Ross and Rachel thing would be good and keep her mind off of everything else. Everything else being him of course. She finished shampooing her hair and climbed out and wrapped a towel around her and then cleared the steam off the mirror and stared into it. 

"What do I do?" She asked her reflection and then chuckled to herself. "Like you can answer me. Well, I guess you can, but it'd be me.....why am I still talking?" She shook her head. She was losing her mind. 

Chandler came down the hall to Monica's room and found the door slightly open. Her friend Joey was inside on the bed talking to a pretty light-haired woman who was sighing quite a few times. 

"I screwed up, didn't I?" 

"Oh yeah," Joey said and the woman hit him. "I meant...no, Rachel, you were lonely and confused so was he." 

"So what about this guy that keeps hanging around Monica?" Rachel asked. Chandler hid behind the door and put his ear up to listen. 

"His name is Chandler, he's Ross's old friend," Joey explained. "She didn't say anything, but the way that he was looking at her, Rachel, was more than a friend kind of look."

"She doesn't need another boyfriend," Rachel said bitterly looking at the closed door behind which Monica was getting dressed. "She'll just end up getting hurt. She doesn't need to get hurt. Not after Pete, not after Richard." 

"I'm looking out for her Rach," Joey said. "Besides, I'm sure that it's nothing between them. I mean, she isn't that bad to look at. Maybe that's all he was doing. Looking."

"That's all he better be doing," Rachel responded and the door to the bathroom opened ending their conversation. Chandler backed away and hurried to the elevator and allowed the silence to help sort out his thoughts. Well, Monica had been hurt in the past, he could tell already. She had seemed like she wanted to take things slowly. He could do that. But the way that she smelled and laughed and the way that she kissed him. It drove him crazy. He wanted to climb the highest mountain and shout from the top that he was in love with Monica Geller. He could wait though. Not long, but he could wait. 

__

I know you've been sworn

I read your complaint

you're needing someone older

though I've been warned

to live day by day

there's something taking over

did you expect to kiss me one time

while looking at me with the same eyes ever again?

Monica found that Chandler was on the same plane back to New York as her and her friends were. Including Ross who was coming home broken-hearted. Emily found him and told him that she was sorry, but couldn't do it. She couldn't marry him, and had handed back the ring that he had dragged Monica out to pick. Now he sat by himself staring at the ring he held in his palm. Joey was sitting with Rachel and they were both sleeping, and Monica was sitting by herself until Chandler had slipped into the empty seat beside her. 

"Hey," he said. She looked at him with surprise and smiled. 

"Hey," she answered.

"This has been one crazy trip," he said.

"That might be the understatement of the century," Monica said laughing. She then turned serious. "I think that you and I need to have a long overdue talk."She had spent the rest of the week, trying and almost succeeding, in ignoring him. Her and Rachel had gone shopping and took Joey out to dinner and to the pubs. But Chandler had been there. At the hotel when they returned, and at the pubs when they went out. He would leave her to her friends, but he would give her a wink and a smile to let her know that she was all that he was thinking about. He nodded.

"So," he started. 

"Well, I um...I'm not so good at the whole relationship thing. I...well...I pretty much...I suck at relationships," she told him. "I pick the wrong guys who treat me like crap. And I let them. And I don't want to do that anymore."

"Well, maybe, when we get home, you and I can go out to dinner and a movie?" He suggested. 

"The other thing is that....my friends...they're sort of protective of me, and I promised that I wouldn't date anyone for awhile. I'd work on me...um, but....I want to. That would be nice, I just don't think I should."

"Do you want to go to dinner?" He asked again. She nodded uncertainly at first and then more sure.

"But my friends...and my brother...and my parents...." she started. 

"Then they don't have to know," he said. "We don't have to tell them yet."

"Okay," she smiled at him. She slipped him a piece of paper with a number on it. "Call me next week." He smiled and folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket.

"I will," he told her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before going back to his seat. She sighed and leaned her head against the seat and smiled to herself. Oh he could be bad for her, but so good. So good. He went back to his seat and stared at the piece of paper in his hand not believing he held it.

Monica - 555-7834 Call me on Monday. 

She had drawn a smiley face next to Monday. It was ironic really that Chandler had fallen for her this quickly. His longest relationship lasted two weeks. But she was different. She could be bad for him. But good, so good. So good. 

__

so come on and face it

so come on and face it

it's time that we say it

you can cross the line whenever you want to

I'm calling it love soon

close your mind and wasting time if you have to

I'm calling it love soon

it's not about you now

it's what we are

The phone rang on Monday and Monica dove for it getting it before Rachel. 

"Hello?"

"Hello? Are you happy with your long distance server?" An annoying sales call. The fourth one today. 

"Thrilled," Monica said going to hang up the phone. 

"Are you sure?" The woman asked.

"Positive," Monica said and this time she did hang up. The phone rang a second later. 

"Listen," she said into the receiver. "My long distance is just peachy thank you."

"Monica?" It was him. He had called. Her heart did a flip. 

"Chandler?" 

"Yes?" 

"Hi." She felt so stupid. "Sorry, I just got a sales call."

"I hate those," he told her laughing.

"So do I," she then realized she was holding her breath and let it out. "So anyway, hi."

"Hi," he told her. "Would you like to go out to dinner tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, tomorrow would be great," she said. 

"Great, um....I'll pick you up at eight?"

"I better meet you there," she said.

"Oh right, your roommate," he said. "Okay, eight at Rico's? It's this great little Italian place."

"That sounds wonderful," Monica assured him and then they talked for a little longer and she hung up. Wonderful. The phone rang again and Monica picked it up lazily.

"Hello?"

"Monica, dear," it was her mother. Wonderful. Just what she needed to ruin her perfect mood. 

"Hi Mom," she said inwardly sighing. 

"Listen, dear, I just was talking to Estelle and she reminded me that her son Craig is single and just about your age, well, a little older. He's thirty. He's a lawyer, he's perfect."

"No thanks," Monica said politely. "I don't need to be set up."

"Monica, you need to get married soon. I want grandchildren before I'm old enough to be a great-grandmother."

"You have Ben," Monica reminded her of her four-year-old nephew. She wanted to tell her mother that she had met a wonderful man and he was taking her to dinner and she thought that he might be the one. But she kept her mouth shut. Her mother would just shoot him down, and Monica didn't need that right then. She had told her friends about him. No one knew that Monica was falling in....oh that scary l-word. She couldn't make herself say it yet. It was way too soon. _Way _too soon. She couldn't let her hopes get up just to be dashed. Too many toads and not enough Prince Charmings, she thought to herself.

"Yes, but Monica I would like grandchildren from both my children," her mother told her sighing. 

"Mom? I have to go to work, I'll talk to you later," Monica hung up and sighed. Her mood was effectively ruined. 

__

your mother complains that you need a man

you haven't mentioned me yet

and all of your friends don't know who I am

I've been your best kept secret

"Hi," Monica said kissing Chandler's cheek.

"Hi," he said smiling at her. She was gorgeous. He pulled her chair out for her and pushed her in. 

"So, how are you?" She asked situating herself.

"I'm good, you?"  
"Good," she nodded smiling. 

"That's good," he said. "How's Ross doing?"

"Better." She picked up the menu and looked through it. The truth was that she didn't want to order anything, she just wanted him. He was as filling as a whole dinner. 

"Listen Monica, I was thinking, are you that hungry? Maybe we could just get some ice cream and...."

"Go back to your place?" He nodded enthusiastically. They had been on the same wavelength.

"What do you think?"

"I think that that's perfect," she told him and he smiled at her. 

"Great," he told her gathering his coat as she gathered hers and paid for their drinks and hurried out of the restaurant and back to his apartment. They were halfway undressed when Monica's cell phone rang. She groaned and answered it. 

"Hello?" She said into the phone impatiently. "What? Oh, no, I'll be right there. Okay, thanks Joe, I'll see you there." She grabbed her shirt and pulled it back over her head. 

"What's the matter?"

"I have to go, I'll explain later," she told him and kissed his cheek and hurried out of the apartment leaving Chandler alone with his head spinning. 

*~ Hey, review please, or else I won't continue it. I'm serious. Well, halfway serious. No but really, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job when you press that little button and say, "hey this is not too shabby." So could you do that for me please? It might make me want to get the next part up faster. That's your reward for reviewing. *~

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	4. And all of your friends don't know who I...

Thanks a million for reviewing! Do it again, pretty please? Anyway, here is the next part and the rest of the song again by the amazing John Mayer. 

Oh wait, the story is rated PG, but Mr. Mayer uses one little swear word in his song, so if you don't like to see those words, then just skip over the song parts. 

Disclaimer: So, I'm running out of cute little disclaimers, so no, they aren't mine

Chandler was left wondering what made Monica run off so quickly for the next hour. His phone finally rang and he dove to answer it. 

"Chandler?" It was her. 

"Mon? What happened? Why did you run out of here like the world was ending?" 

"Oh, sorry, my friend Phoebe was in labor," Monica explained. So that explained it. He had feared the worst, that she didn't to see him anymore, that she had realized what a mistake she was making, the list of reasons had gone on forever in his head. 

"Is everything okay?" 

"Yes," Monica said. "Thanks for asking. She's fine, and the triplets are fine."

"Triplets?" He questioned and he heard Monica laugh on the other end. 

"It gets worse," she informed him. "They're her brother's." She let the piece of information sink in before continuing. "She's the surrogate mother for her brother and his wife, who can't have children." Chandler breathed a sigh of relief, her friends were normal. 

"Oh," he laughed. "That must totally freak people out."

"It freaked you out," she said. 

"Who me? No...yeah, I was freaked out." She laughed. What a fabulous laugh, he thought to himself. 

"Well, I just thought that I would call and explain my hasty exit. Maybe we can try this again?" 

"Sure," he told her. Yes, his heart screamed. Anytime you want! 

"How about Thursday at eight? I had no plans other than hanging out with friends." (AN: Hehehe)

"Sounds fantastic," he said. "I'll make you dinner. Come to my place."

"Okay," she said smiling. Oh what was she doing? "I'll see you then." She hung up and came face to face with Rachel.

"Monica?"

"Oh, hi Rachel, what are you doing?" She wanted to ask what she had heard. What did you hear Rachel, however, sounds like she had something to hide and if Rachel didn't hear anything, then she would have just tipped her off. 

"Mon? Who were you on the phone with?"

"My assistant chef, I had to um....tell him that I was here.....umm....and that I could work on Thursday....yeah....." 

"Monica, you're a terrible liar," Rachel said.

"No, it's not a lie, I just am worried about Phoebe," Monica assured her best friend. Rachel eyed her suspiciously. Monica felt horrible, but she wasn't ready to hear that this guy was going to hurt her and going to use her. That her plan had been to take some time to focus on herself before jumping into another relationship with her heart in her hands. Well, he wasn't part of the plan, Monica would be the first to admit that, but she wanted to believe so badly that he would not hurt her, and that he wasn't using her. 

"Well come on," Rachel said. "Ross got here." Monica nodded and followed her friend down the hall to where her brother stood. 

"Hey you," she grinned and hugged him. 

"Hey Mon," he said kissing her cheek. "Hey listen, I just wanted to thank you for taking Chandler out with you in London. I remembered that you hated him, so that was really nice of you." 

"I don't hate him," Monica assured her brother.

"I would if I were you, you must be a bigger person than I," he told her laughing. She forced a laugh. "Anyway, I'm supposed to have lunch with him tomorrow, do you want me to tell him you said hi?"

"No," Monica said. "That's okay."

"Sure? Okay," Ross gave her another kiss on the cheek and went to find Joey. 

"Oh Monica, what are you doing?" she hissed to herself.

"Did you say something honey?" Rachel asked. 

"Oh no," Monica quickly covered. "It was her." She pointed to another woman in the waiting room. "She's been talking to herself all night." Rachel, for the second time that night, gave her a look that clearly stated that she was not believing a word that Monica said. 

"Oh, okay," Rachel said. She would have to talk to Ross and learn more about this Chandler character. Monica gave her friend a smile and moved to the window and gazed out on the city. Out of all people to meet in London and fall for, it had to be him. He had called her fat. He had made fun of her, and although she knew that he had changed, it still hurt her to think about it. And he wasn't the kind of person that she had imagined herself with, but he was certainly cute and sweet. Maybe he could become her type. Maybe.

I understand I wasn't part of the plan

a dollar short, a minute early

but I am your man

so come on and face it

so come on and face it

it's time that we say it

Thursday night Chandler was pacing in his apartment waiting for her to come. The dinner was in the oven and he was nervous. Not just because she was a chef and anything he made would, no doubt, be far inferior to hers, but because she made him nervous. In a good way, but nervous none-the-less. There was a knock on the door and he paused before taking a deep breath and opening it to find her there.

"Hey you," he said smiling at her. 

"Hey yourself," she told him and he stepped aside to let her into his apartment. 

"Can I take your coat?" He asked wanting to be as gentlemanly as he could. 

"Sure," Monica smiled and shrugged out of her coat and he took it and neatly hung it on the hook. "Nice place."

"Thanks," he led her into the living room and poured her a glass of wine which she accepted and drank. "So how is your friend and her brother's babies?" Monica laughed.

"All four are fine," she reported. "I'm sorry I ruined our night."

"Oh, don't worry about it," he assured her. She looked into his eyes. Bright, blue, intense eyes. 

"Chandler?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper. 

"Yes?"

"I don't know if I can do this."

"Do what?"

"This, this dating thing. I'm no good at dating. In fact, I suck. I mean totally suck. All my dates are horrible, and I...you're....it's just that...." she began to cry softly. She cursed herself for it, but she couldn't stop the tears that were falling down her cheek, a result of really bad relationships that had left their mark. 

"Hey, shush, don't cry," Chandler pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. 

"It's okay, cry if you want to."

"I just....oh God," and with that she sat up and went to grab her coat. 

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Home. You don't want a sobbing mess in your apartment. I should go home. It was nice to see you again Chandler." Her hand fumbled for the door when he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Monica, I don't want to rush you into anything. But I want you to stay for dinner. Cry into the meal if you have to, just please don't leave." She turned around, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and trails of tears staining her face. 

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he reassured her. She sighed and hung up her coat again and allowed him to lead her into the kitchen where they sat down and he pulled out the meal that he had prepared. "It's not as good as you'd probably make it, but I tried." She gave a small smile.

"I'm sure I'll love it," she told him and ate every bite. 

"Monica?" He asked when she was done eating.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to stay? I mean, you don't have to. You can cross that line whenever you want to." She gave him another smile.

"I would love to stay." 

__

you can cross the line whenever you want to

I'm calling it love soon

close your mind and waste some time if you have to

I'm calling it love soon

it's not about you now

it's what we are

it's what we are

Monica woke up the next morning and smelled breakfast cooking. She grinned and wrapped a sheet around her and moved to the kitchen where Chandler was standing over the stove. 

"Hi," she said. 

"Oh, hi," he turned around and gave her a kiss. 

"Smells good," she told him and he smiled. 

"I am the world famous chef, Chananderler Bong," he told her in a fake accent. She laughed. 

"Oh my," she said. "Oh, I'm going to have to think of a really good excuse why I wasn't home last night." He smiled at her. 

"Tell them whatever you want to." She gave him a grateful smile. 

"You don't mind that I'm not telling them about you?" She asked. 

"No, Mon, it's okay. You can tell them whenever you want to," he told her. But, he thought to himself. Life is short, and I for one don't want to live it without you. He said nothing to her, just smiled and kissed her. 

"I'm going to go get dressed," she gave him one more kiss before she slipped out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom where she pulled on the dress that she had worn the night before. She smoothed down the wrinkles and went back to join him for breakfast. She glanced at her watch and yelped at the time.

"I think that the minute hand moves faster when you're having fun," she said. 

"The minute hand moves faster than you think it does," he agreed. 

"I have to go," she stood from the table.

"Okay."

"Movies? Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," he said. "That would be nice."

"You can pick me up," she said. 

"Okay."  
"Okay," she flashed a smile and grabbed her coat and purse and hurried out into the spring morning. He watched her go. He was in love with her. This fact had been cemented the previous night when he had held her in his arms and watched her sleep. He would let her take her time, but not too much time. She could claim as long as she wanted to that she wasn't in love, but he knew better. He could see it in her eyes. The same thing was mirrored in his own. He let himself think about her and smiled at the thought of her before getting ready for work.

Monica held her breath as she walked in the door. Rachel was sitting on the couch reading a magazine.

"Hi Monica," she said. Monica let out her breath and steadied herself for Rachel's reaction to her being out all night. 

"Morning Rachel," she responded. 

"So Mon," Rachel began. "Where were you last night?" This was the question that Monica had been dreading. One that she knew Rachel would not like the answer to.

"I uh...I....had to uh....work late and so...I uh....stayed over at the one waitresses who lived near by. I was just so....um....exhausted that I couldn't make it home." 

"That's a real good lie," Rachel said. "Except that you didn't work last night."

"Sure I did," Monica said.

"Uh, no you didn't. When you didn't come home, we called. They said that you never came in. You weren't working last night. You lied." She was standing now, looking her best friend in the eye. "So, I ask again. Where were you last night? We were worried sick about you."

"I'm sorry," Monica started to say. Then she changed her mind. "No. I'm not sorry. I had a wonderful night last night. I had a date Rachel. And yes, I stayed the night with him. And I don't regret it." Rachel studied her friend for a minute and then grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the couch.

"Tell me all about him," Rachel said smiling at her best friend. 

"Okay," Monica laughed. "You can't tell Ross or Joey."

__

let's bypass the bullshit

and move on because the minute hand moves faster 

then you think it does

and by no fault of yours 

and by no fault of mine

the bottom line is laying in the bedroom 

we've been playing in tonight

Chandler came to the door of apartment 20 and raised his hand to knock. Rachel answered it.

"Hi," she said. "Come in. Monica's almost ready." Chandler was amazed. Monica had told her friend about him. "Listen," Rachel said. "If you hurt her I swear on everything that is good and holy in this world, I will hunt you down and rip you limb from limb are we understood?" Chandler swallowed hard.

"I understand," he said. "I would never hurt her." 

"Okay," Rachel smiled at him. "Good." Monica came out of her bedroom and smiled at him. His heart melted at the sight of her. No one had ever done that to him before. Made him feel like this. 

"Have fun," Rachel called after them as they left for the movies. Monica raised her hand in response. Rachel closed the door knowing that Monica would most likely not be home that night.

"I told Rachel," Monica said. "As you probably gathered. But I haven't told my brother or my other friends."

"Oh," Chandler said.

"I just...Ross will kill you." Then she laughed. "I think you could take him, but Joey would undoubtedly be more of a problem and the two of them together would be bad, so I'm......." she trailed off and then looked at her hand entwined in his. "I'm telling them." 

"You don't have to."

"No...yes....I do......you're amazing. Us together is amazing and I want them to know. I'm calling it love soon. Does that scare you?"

"No." He kissed her hand. "It doesn't. I've never felt for anyone what I feel for you. I think that I love you." She gave him a kiss on the lips. 

"Okay," she said smiling. "I tell my brother soon." She sighed. "I just hope they don't kill you." 

__

I'm calling it love soon

I'm calling it love soon

you can cross the line whenever you want to

I'm calling it love soon

"Ross?" Monica called him the next day.

"Hey Monica," Ross said. "What's going on?"

"Can you come over here?"

"Sure," he told her. "I'll be right over."

"Thanks." She hung up and took a deep breath. Joey was on his way over with the promise of homemade bread hanging in the air, and Phoebe was in the coffee shop and was coming up. She would tell them now. If she didn't chicken out first. 

__

close you mind and waste some time if you have to

I'm calling it love soon

I'm calling it love soon

it's not about you now

it's what we are

~Okay, please review and I'll post the next chapter as quickly as I can. Thanks.~


	5. It's not about you now, it's who we are

Hey, thanks for reviewing. And for whoever asked, this song is not on John Mayer's CD "Room For Squares". Here is the next part, and do review again as it brightens my day. 

Disclaimer: Nope, last time I checked they didn't belong to me

Monica paced the length of her apartment for the eighth time. Rachel reached out from her position on the couch and grabbed Monica's arm. 

"Stop," she commanded and Monica sighed and fell onto the couch with a thud next to Rachel. Rachel closed her magazine and looked at Monica. "It'll be fine, you need to stop worrying."

"But I do worry," Monica said. "I want them to approve. I want them to like him."

"Ross already does," Rachel pointed out and Monica gave her a small smile. 

"I know," she said. "But I want him to like Chandler as my boyfriend."

"Honey, I don't know if you should need for them to approve, maybe just be satisfied with them accepting him." Monica closed her eyes and nodded. The door swung open and Joey came in. 

"Where's my bread?" He asked. 

"Hello to you too Joey," Rachel commented. 

"Hi Rachel, is that better?" She nodded. "Good, so where's my bread? I have a hankering for some of Monica's bread." Monica stood up and took Joey's hand. 

"There is no bread," she said. "I just needed you to come over here."

"No...no...no bread? But how can this be?" Joey took his hand back and looked from Monica to Rachel for an answer. 

"Joey, honey, stick to what Monica said. She needed you to come over here." 

"Why?" He asked. 

"I need to talk to you," Monica said. "Sit on the couch, Ross and Phoebe will be here soon."

"I bet you didn't lie to them to get them over here. Promising bread when you clearly had not made any," Joey said huffily. Monica rolled her eyes at Joey. 

"Will you stop with the bread? I will make you some tonight, okay?" She told him. Joey raised an eyebrow at her. 

"I want banana bread too," he said. "Two kinds!" He held up two fingers and she nodded.

"Fine." 

"Good," he sat back against the seat cushion and studied Monica. "What did you need to talk about?" 

"I wanted to wait until everyone got here so that I could talk to you all at once," Monica explained. 

"You're not dying are you?" Joey exclaimed stricken. Monica had to laugh. 

"No, Joe, I'm not dying," she assured him. 

"Whew," Joey turned to Rachel. "That was a close one." The door opened and Phoebe came and at Monica's instructions, she sat next to Joey on the couch. Ross came in a minute later. 

"So what's going on?" He asked.

"Please sit," Monica told him pointing to the chair. He sat down in and looked at his other friends. "Um, well in London....I kind of met someone....and we've been seeing each other....and well.....I like him a lot.....and I want you to like him too....and I know that I told you that I would take some time from dating....but he's just so....and I.....he's good for me. He's really good for me. And I'll be careful this time, I'm being careful this time. I promise." They all sat quietly for a moment before Joey spoke up.

"Is it that Chandler?" He asked. Monica nodded holding her breath. 

"Chandler?" Ross said. "My Chandler?"

"Well, now I like to think of him as my Chandler," Monica said. She tried to read the expression on Ross's face.

"Are you happy?" Ross asked and he couldn't deny the smile on Monica's face when she nodded. "I have to think about this. I have to let this sink in." Ross gathered his jacket and left the apartment. Monica sank into the empty chair that Ross had occupied and buried her head in her hands. 

"He better not hurt you," Joey said putting a hand on Monica's shoulder. "He's okay by me, as long as he doesn't hurt you."

"Thanks Joey," she said softly and Joey pulled her out of the chair and hugged her. 

"I want to me this guy," Phoebe said hugging Monica. "I'm sure he's a prince." Monica silently thanked her and looked down at her hands. 

"He'll come around Monica," Rachel said. "It's just a lot for him to handle right now that's all." She nodded and excused herself. She went into her bedroom and dialed Chandler's number. She got his answering machine. 

"Chandler? It's Monica, could you call me back when you get in? Thanks," she hung up the phone and waited for either him to call back or Ross to come back. 

Chandler had been waiting at his apartment for word from Monica to tell him how things had gone with telling Ross. He had been watching a movie, or rather, he had had the movie on while he stared at the screen thinking about Monica. When he heard a knock on his door, he moved to answer it hoping it was her. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw to his dismay on the other side, was not Monica but Ross. He opened the door a crack and smiled at his friend. 

"Ah, wrong house, no speak no English," he said and quickly closed the door again. 

"Chandler!" Ross yelled from the other side. "Open this door now!" Chandler sighed. He had had a good life, he thought to himself. In middle ages, he'd be an old man. He pulled open the door and waited to be punched, or shoved or anything that he would have done to the guy dating his little sister, dependent of course on him having the guts to do it or more importantly having a little sister. 

"Hi Ross," Chandler said. 

"Monica told me that you two are seeing each other, is this true?" Chandler nodded. 

"Ross, I swear, I won't hurt her. I'm in love with her. I won't do anything to her," Chandler heard himself pleading. 

"You're in love with her?" Ross asked not quite believing what he was hearing. 

"Yes, I am," Chandler said. 

"Have you slept with her?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" 

"Never mind." Ross sat on Chandler's couch and studied his friend. "If you hurt her, I swear that I will rip you limb from limb."

"That seems to be the common punishment for hurting Monica," Chandler remarked, remembering that Rachel had issued that same threat, and he was sure that Joey would too when he saw him again. 

"We love her, and we've seen her hurt, and we don't want that to happen again," Ross explained. 

"I understand," Chandler told him and he sat next to his friend. "I won't let anything happen to her. I promise." 

"Okay," Ross said. "I guess I can accept that you are dating." They heard the phone ring and although Chandler wanted to dive for it, he stayed put and let the answering machine pick it up. He heard Monica's voice and he looked at Ross.

"Go ahead and call her back," Ross said. "Tell her I'm okay with it. We'll all go out to dinner tomorrow so that you can properly meet the others." 

"Okay," Chandler said smiling. He picked up the phone and dialed Monica's number. 

"Hello?" 

"Monica?"

"Chandler?"

"Ross is here."

"Did he hurt you? Did you hurt him? Oh God, it's been nice knowing you," she babbled. 

"Monica, calm down, we talked. He said to tell you that he can accept us dating and that he wants us all to go out to dinner tomorrow night." He heard her sigh with relief.

"Okay, but tonight? Would you like to go to the movies?"

"How about you come over here and we rent one instead?" Chandler suggested and then saw Ross's death glare. "Of course you'd go home afterwards." 

"He's right there?" She asked. 

"Oh yeah," Chandler gave a small smile to Ross. 

"Tell him to grow up," she instructed.

"Uh, Mon? Seeing as I'm the one who he will kill, I think it'll be better for you to wait and tell him yourself." She laughed. 

"Good idea," she remarked and then they hung up the phone and Ross told Chandler to come by Monica's apartment the next night at seven.

"I want her home tonight," Ross demanded before he left. 

Monica sighed and leaned her head back against Chandler, who in return wrapped his arm around her. 

"It feels so good to have told them," she said. 

"Well, it feels good to be known," Chandler said. "And for you not to have to sneak around anymore." She nodded and then paused thoughtfully.

"Ross better not find out I spent the night," she said. "Though I suppose I could take him." Chandler laughed and planted a kiss on her forehead. 

"I tend to agree with you, you probably could take him." At this Monica laughed and then was silent again as the movie began. 

"I love this movie," she said when she realized that it was _An Affair to Remember_ (AN: One of my favorite movies ever. Still makes me cry). "But this is such a girly movie, why didn't you get something you would like?"

"I figured that this was something that you would like," he responded.

"Oh, you are so sweet. How did you get to be this sweet?"

"I think it came from the abundance of sugar I ate as a wee child," he quipped. She laughed, getting used his sarcastic comments, and kissed his cheek. 

"Well, thank you," she said softly. 

"Yeah, but you'll have to watch _Die Hard_ one of these days to make up for this," he warned. 

"Well worth it," she told him settling in to watch one of her favorite movies.

The next night Chandler was a wreck getting ready for dinner. He had already discovered that Monica's friends were vitally important to her, and he wanted to make a good impression on them. He finally changed one last time and left his apartment to make the short journey to hers. He took a deep breath before raising his hand and knocking on the door. Monica pulled it open and smiled at him. 

"Come on in," she said widening the door to let him in. 

"Okay," he said and tugged on his collar before following her. A blonde woman was sitting with Rachel and they were talking and laughing. She stood up and made her way over to where Monica and Chandler were standing. 

"You must be Chandler," she said extending her hand.

"You're Phoebe?" She nodded. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Pity that I couldn't say the same about you, as Monica only chose to indulge us of your identity yesterday," Phoebe said lightly hitting her friend on the arm. Monica just shrugged and taking Chandler's hand led him over to the couch where they sat down. Ross came in with Joey and Chandler stood again and shook Joey's hand and then smiling at Ross uncertainly. He had not had Monica home last night and he didn't know if Ross knew this or not. 

"Hey man," Ross said smiling back at him. Okay, Chandler thought. He obviously does not know. "Are we ready to go?" He glanced at the girls. The three nodded and Chandler took Monica's hand as they walked out of the apartment. They waved down two cabs and to Chandler's dismay, Phoebe and Joey pulled him into their cab as Ross and Rachel distracted Monica and got her into their cab. Chandler knew that this was planned and he had a pretty good guess as to what they were going to say to him. He knew it would be along the lines of ripping his limbs off if he hurt her. 

"We just wanted to get you alone," Phoebe said smiling at him. Chandler was not sure whether or not that was a good smile. "To talk to you." Joey nodded and Chandler was sorry that he was in the middle of them. 

"If you hurt her, man I swear, I will kill you." Joey's threat was more blunt than that of Rachel's and Ross's, but it got it's point across quite clearly. 

"I will hunt you down like a dog in the streets," Phoebe added. "A dog in the streets." She added the last part empathetically to show Chandler that she meant what she was saying. Chandler shifted in his seat. He was happy that her friends loved her this much, but he knew that he would never hurt her. He couldn't dream of hurting her. She meant too much to him. 

"I won't," he promised. He had made this promise to all four of them and he didn't intend on breaking it. 

"You sure?" Joey asked once more studying Chandler. 

"Positive," Chandler said nodding. "I won't hurt her."

"Good," Joey said leaning against the seat. "I kind of like you." Chandler let out a sigh of relief and all three laughed. 

"Sorry about that," Monica whispered to Chandler as they were following the host to their table. 

"That's okay, you didn't know that they were going to do that, did you?" 

"No, but I had a feeling they would," she said. "What did they say to you?" Chandler shrugged not knowing if Monica knew that all her friends were threatening her new boyfriend. 

"The usual," he said. 

"Did Joey threaten to kill you? He has like seven sisters and he thinks of me like one and he treats me accordingly."

"That's a good thing," Chandler said pulling out her chair and the conversation stopped and they were forced into the group conversation. Monica kept throwing glances at Chandler and he seemed, to her utmost surprise, to be enjoying himself despite the grilling he was receiving from all four. Where did he grow up? Did he have a good childhood? What do his parents do? Something Monica realized, he was not comfortable talking about. What does he do for a living? Is he stable? Where does he live now? Does he believe in destiny? This last one was from Phoebe, but it caused Monica to lean forward and listen intently to his answer. Did he believe in destiny? She was pretty sure that she did. After all, what were the odds of her meeting up with him again and falling in love after all those years of her hating him with an absolute passion. 

"I guess that I do," Chandler said looking at Monica when he answered. "I guess that there has to be some force that keeps us together. I mean, there has to be some master plan going on, right?" Phoebe seemed satisfied with his answer, because she dropped that subject and moved on to asking him what he thought of vegetarians. 

"On the whole," he responded. "They're okay." He gave Monica a wink and she couldn't help the grin that spread over her face and Rachel noticed and gave her a shove.

"He's nice."

"You think?" Monica asked.

"Oh yeah, and cute too." 

"Yeah," Monica said and she sighed and Rachel laughed. 

"I like him Mon," she said. "He's a keeper." Monica nodded in agreement. 

"A keeper," she whispered to herself. 

Chandler stood outside Monica's apartment and gave her a soft kiss goodnight. 

"It was nice meeting them," he told her. "They're all very nice." Monica snorted an unladylike snort and then smiled. 

"They have their moments," she said. 

"Yeah, well," he smiled at her. "I'm pleased that they approve. I know it was important to you." She nodded.

"Thank you for allowing yourself to be interrogated," she said. "I appreciate it." He kissed her again on the cheek knowing that Ross was watching. He could hear them all in Joey's apartment huddling by the door trying to hear and taking turns looking through the peephole. 

"Goodnight," he whispered and squeezed her hand before waving at the door and announcing loudly. "Goodnight everyone." 

"Goodnight Chandler," they all responded causing Monica to laugh and wave once more to Chandler as she opened her door and slipped inside. She slid onto the chair and grinned to herself. This relationship might work, she thought. Just maybe. 

*~Please review and tell me, "great job! It's fantabulous!" or something along those lines. : ) I think that I will write at least another chapter to dive more into their relationship, unless you all think that this is a good ending and then I will stop. So please review and tell me what to do. Hey that rhymed! *~


	6. I'm calling it love soon

~Sorry this took so long to get up, I went to the beach. I missed the second week of school, hehe, let me tell you the beach is nice and it's even nicer when you know that everyone else is sitting in AP American while you're tanning in the sun. Anyway, I am back now, and sad, and I have all the homework that I was supposed to do over the week to do today and oh! Oh!!!!! Did I ever mention that I love, love, love Pete Sampras? Well, he's playing today so everyone should watch. Go Pete! Okay, I'm done, please review.~

Disclaimer: Right, so they aren't mine. 

Monica moaned as she hit the alarm that was going off in her ear. 

"Stupid alarm," she moaned as she untangled herself from Chandler's arms and swung her legs over the side of the bed. 

"Good morning," he mumbled to her as he awoke. 

"What is so good about the morning?" She demanded. "To me, the morning is not so good at all." He gave a small chuckle and sat up. She still couldn't believe that they had been dating for six months. She gave a small smile to Chandler and climbed out of bed completely. She was equally amazed by how nice her friends had been to Chandler. Joey had taken him to Knicks games, or Chandler had taken him had been more like it. They apparently got along magically, and Monica was happy. Chandler hadn't had friends like she had. 

"We have that dinner tonight for Rachel's birthday," Monica reminded. Chandler nodded. 

"Mon?" He spoke up after fighting inside his head wondering whether or not he should bring it up.

"What's the matter?" She asked turning from the closet where she had been scouring for an outfit. 

"I've been doing some thinking, some us thinking....and....Mon? Do you think that we should move in together?" Monica dropped the hanger she had been holding and it clattered to the ground.

"Are you serious?" She studied his face to see if he was lying to her.

"Yes," he got out of bed and went to her and took her hands in his. "I'm serious. I want to move in with you. I mean we practically do anyway, why not just make it official?"

"Wow, Chandler," she said. "This is not a conversation that should be had when I'm still half asleep."

"Is that a you'll think about it?" She paused and looked deep in thought before answering thoughtfully.

"No, I don't need to think about it. I want to live with you. I want to move in with you absolutely."

"Are you sure? I don't want to push you into anything that you don't want to do."

"I'm sure." He picked her up and spun her around and then set her back down again. "I just don't want to leave my apartment. I love this place. It was my grandmother's and....but I want to live you more." She still gave a look around the room that didn't go unnoticed by Chandler. He made a mental note to talk to Rachel and hugged her again.

"You better go get in the shower," he whispered into her ear. "Or you'll be late for work." He paused. "For the third day in a row." She gave a small laugh and slipped out of his arms and into the living room. She paused and sat down on the ottoman and tried to memorize the place. She couldn't imagine not living here. She loved Chandler, and wanted to move in with him, and so she would follow him where he wanted to go. But it hurt. This was her home for so long. That couch was where she nursed broken hearts watching old Audrey Hepburn movies. Where her and Rachel would stay up until all hours of the morning have discussions over bowls of ice cream, and where they had made the list of doable movie stars that was still hidden in the third drawer from the bottom of her dresser. That was the kitchen table where Joey taught her to play poker and where she had subsequently beaten him.

"How did you do that?" He had yelled when she had cleaned him, Ross, and Phoebe out.

"Beginners luck?" She gave a smile as she pulled the chips towards her.

"Oh, you're aura is glowing green Ross," Phoebe had commented.

"Green?" He had asked. "What's green?"

"Jealousy," Monica had answered laughing. Phoebe had nodded and Joey and Ross had banned Monica from playing with them anymore. That was the kitchen table where Phoebe had read her palms and tea leaves and announced that Monica was going to die the next day. The next day Phoebe spent begging Monica to stay inside and when Monica reminded her that the building could catch on fire and Phoebe had no idea how Monica was going to die, Phoebe then made sure that Monica was not in any room without a fire escape or without Phoebe right next to her.

"Pheebs!" Monica had finally said exasperated. "I'm not going to die!" They were in Bloomingdales shopping when Phoebe grabbed her arm and told her to be careful as a huge display fell where Monica was going to be standing. Both looked at each other and began laughing hysterically. That was table where they had gotten drunk that night because it just made good sense to get drunk after cheating death although Monica still wasn't sure that she would have died if that display had fallen on top of her. It had only been of purses, but Phoebe was convinced. Monica hugged her arms around her body and then slowly stood up and walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She leaned her head against the cool door and closed her eyes. There were so many memories in this place, she thought. She smiled at the thought of waking up to Chandler every day. Some nights he stayed over, and other nights she went over there. When she worked too late, or he had an early meeting the next morning, they slept in separate places, and she found it becoming increasingly harder to sleep without his weight next to her.

"I want to move in with him," she reminded herself. "I love him and I want to live with him." She knew this, but it still didn't lessen the twisting in her chest when she thought about leaving this place. She turned on the taps of the shower and waited for the water to get warm before getting in and getting ready for the day. 

"Rachel?" Chandler was at his office doing what he normally did, and that was anything that wasn't work. He had a whole system where he did as little work as he possibly could. 

"Chandler? What's going on?" Rachel was confused. Chandler rarely called her. In fact, she didn't think he had ever called her before. "Is Monica okay? Did something happen to her?"

"She's fine," Chandler told her quickly. "She's at work."

"Oh good," Rachel let out a sigh of relief. 

"Listen I need to talk to you," Chandler said as he fiddled with a pen.

"Okay, talk," she said. 

"Monica and I are talking about moving in together," Chandler began. 

"That's great!" Rachel interrupted. 

"Well, it is great, and we're excited about it, but she's really upset about having to leave her apartment behind and so here's what I propose...." He continued on with his plan, which he thought was brilliant and then smiled when Rachel reluctantly agreed with him and hung up the phone. He couldn't wait to surprise Monica. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he told. He had the sudden urge to call her. His phone rang again and as if they were on the same wavelength, it was Monica.

"Hey you," she said. "I figured I wasn't interrupting anything." He laughed. She knew him too well. "Listen, I have to go away this weekend, my boss wants me to help in his new restaurant in Boston. I have to help pick a chef and blah, blah, blah. But I was thinking that maybe you could come and we could have the weekend together." He smiled to himself, this was perfect. Beyond perfect.

"Oh I'm sorry honey, I have a meeting Saturday morning. Don't you remember me telling you about it?" He lied. He hated lying to her, but he knew that it was with good reason. 

"Oh," she sounded so disappointed that for a minute he considered telling her the truth. "All right. I'll see you tonight?"

"Can't wait," he told her and they said their goodbyes and hung up and Chandler began making calls for the weekend.

Monica was so tired that she could hardly stand up any longer. It was one in the morning and her flight had just gotten in. She figured that it was better that Chandler couldn't have come with her because she had barely any time where she wasn't working. But she had hired a new chef and gotten the place under some sort of control before she had left finally late that night. She dug through her purse and came up with her key. She put it in the lock and swung it open and held her suitcase in one hand as she went to turn on the lights. She gasped as they lit the apartment. It was her apartment, but at the same time it wasn't. A new chair stood and a larger television replaced the old one. It wasn't that they were new, they were just new to her apartment. But old, old to Chandler's. She glanced around the room once more as her eyes landed on Chandler standing in the doorway to her bedroom.

"I talked to Rachel. She agreed that it was your apartment first and that you should be able to stay here."

"But where will she go?" Monica asked.

"She's going to stay in my apartment. Forever if she wants, or until she finds somewhere else." He moved slowly towards her. "It made you sad to leave here, and so you shouldn't leave. I'll just come to you." 

"Oh Chandler," she whispered and threw her arms around his neck. "Now, that awful chair we'll talk about." He laughed and kissed her.

"I missed you," he said.

"Me too."

"We'll have to talk about the extra room," he said. She bit her lip and wondered when she should tell him. Should she tell him now? It was late, maybe they should have this conversation when it wasn't so late. Why she had had the flu the previous week, and why she had been throwing up and been more tired and why she had gained the few extra pounds. But now was the time. She couldn't hold it off forever. He had to know. He would figure it out sometime. 

"I have an idea already in mind for it," she said taking a deep breath.

"What?" He waited for her to answer. 

"Maybe a nursery," she suggested, her eyes never meeting his. She waited on baited breath for his reaction. 

"Uh....what? Why?" 

"I'm pregnant," she said. He looked shocked. She figured he would be. She prayed that he wouldn't leave her. "I know Chandler, that this isn't the way that we planned it. I know that okay? This wasn't the way I planned it either. But I am pregnant."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I took the test five times. I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday." He sat down in his chair. "Take as long as you want to decide what you want to do. I mean if you want to leave, or stay or whatever." 

"Leave?" His head shot up and he looked at her. She was biting on the end of her nail. "Why would I leave?"

"I just thought....well....I thought maybe you weren't ready for this."

"I'm not Monica, but I would never leave. Ever. I couldn't even imagine leaving. It'll take some time. To get used to it and everything, I mean....but I love you. I want to marry you. I have the ring and everything. And a baby? Your baby? God Monica, that's more than I could have ever have asked for." 

"Really?" Her voice came out soft and she had forgotten that she was exhausted in the first place. She had forgotten that it was one in the morning. She had forgotten everything.

"Yes really," he said standing up and taking her hand. "Come here you." She fell into his arms and he held her to him tightly. "Let's go to bed. I'll show you what I did to the bedroom."

"I don't think I have the energy for that," she said. "Keep the lights off. The bed's still in the same place right?"

"Right."

"I'll deal with the rest in the morning."

"Deal?" He asked and she nodded. 

"Like the chair. And that horrendous picture that you have hanging over there. That has to go." She kissed his cheek and went into the bedroom. 

"I was thinking," she called out coming to the doorway. He stopped and looked at her.

"What?"

"Maybe it does exist."

"What exists?" He asked confused.

"Happily ever after. Turns out it does exist." He grinned and followed her into the bedroom. 

~I know that it was short, but I just sort of wanted to wrap it up and have it have a happy ending. So please review and tell me what you thought. ~


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